Commentary: A thousand trick-or-treaters? Just a normal Halloween in Alhambra, thanks to my neighbor.
Last year, on Halloween Eve, I drove to Alhambra from my house four miles away, where I left the car on my neighbor’s driveway. My neighbor is a good person. He treats me fairly by not telling me about his recent suicide.
As I sat in my car, I took a selfie of my front yard from behind, so that I could keep a running list of trick or treaters and their costumes. I also took a photo of myself posing with my neighbor as he walked past me into the door of his house.
Some friends came by, and my neighbor let them in. Inside, he greeted them by saying, “Happy Halloween.” Their first comment was, “Hey, how come you’re so clean?”
I said, “I have a lot to clean.”
“That’s probably why you’re so clean,” one of them said.
“Yeah, right,” I told them as I took a picture of them to send it to my mother, an aunt, and his wife.
“I mean, you know, to hide the stuff that I clean,” I said.
My neighbor seemed to take it as I was telling him I was going to clean the car. My two friends laughed.
Later, when I was back home and the doorbell rang, I pulled open the door and was greeted by two sisters, one who lives just a few houses away, and the other who lives a few blocks north. They came inside and I introduced myself. This is how they greeted me:
Sister 1: Hi, I’m Sister 1.
Sister 2: Hi, I’m Sister 2.
Sister 1: Hi, I’m Sister 3.
Sister 2: Hi, I’m Sister 4.
Sister 1 and 2: Hi, I’m Sister 5 and Sister 6. We are also going to be helping you with your Halloween costume.
Sister 5: Yes, we are. We’ll take the costume from you.
Sister 3: We will also be here for you to help